Acorn Grants

Practical Chinese will receive the amount of $800.00. This program, headed by Ms. Mei Mansingh, teacher at Morton High School, focuses on utilizing the language of Chinese to provide students with skills necessary to explore an immersed Chinese environment.

PLTW Medical Detectives will receive the amount of $2,466.00. This program, headed by Ms. Kimberly Kennedy, a teacher at Eggers Middle School, provides students with firsthand experience and the opportunity to explore a career in the medical field.

Literacy Learners will receive the amount of $2,150.00. This program, headed by Ms. Monica Bega, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School, ensures students hone the necessary skills, such as phonics, phonological awareness, vocabulary, and comprehension to support their success in reading.

Little Gov, Little Gov What Do You See? I See a Community Helper Reading to Me! will receive the amount of $500.00. This program, headed by Ms. Nancy Batliner and Ms. Melonie Wheeler, teachers at Morton Elementary School, welcomes guest readers into the classroom to inspire students to become avid readers thereby increasing the I-Ready scores.

Modern Classroom Project will receive the amount of $500.00. This 
program is headed by Melissa Rivera, teacher at Eggers Middle School, 
provides a designed classroom that empowers students to learn 
independently, master concepts and support others in need.

PLT4M Platform for Physical Education and Athletics will receive the amount of $2,000.00. This program, headed by Ms. Sue Mathewson, a 
teacher at Hammond Central High School, helps students grow their 
knowledge of health and fitness, and their own personal belief of 
confidence, autonomy, and awareness of fitness education.

Coding in the Elementary Classroom will receive the amount of $1,703.00. This program, headed by Ms. Melissa Bushnell, a teacher at O’Bannon Elementary School.

Developing Musicianship and Leadership through Orchestra will receive the amount of $3,000.00. This program, headed by Ms. Cheryl Suwardi, teacher at Hammond Central High School and the Hammond Academy of Performing Arts, trains students in music and orchestra skills to develop a powerful sense of self and the important aspects of being an orchestra member.

Sediment Erosion & Deposition with a Stream Table will receive the amount of $743.00. This program, headed by Mr. David Coffey, a teacher at Hammond Central High School, provides students access to a stream table and allows them the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the scientific experimental process while learning the power of erosion.

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Unlimited Potential-Community Partnership Program will be funded in the amount of $5,000.00 and is headed by Ms. Lisa Jameyfield, teacher at O'Bannon Elementary School. Unlimited Potential is based on a community partnership with neighborhood churches. It provides after school tutoring one day a week for 1.5 hours at O'Bannon, Hess and Jefferson Elementary Schools. The target population is determined by the data collected by teachers and is focused on basic skills for kindergarten and first grade students. Parents are included and participate in an orientation. The community partners provide trained tutors, materials and organization. Schools will also utilize sixth grade students who will be trained as peer mentors and receive incentives based on attendance. All participants will be involved in social/emotional character-building lessons as well.

PLTW Medical Detectives will be funded in the amount of $2,191.00 and is headed by Ms. Kimberly Kennedy, teacher at Eggers Middle School. In the Medical Detectives (MD) unit, students play the role of real-life medical detectives as they collect and analyze medical data to diagnose disease. They solve medical mysteries through hands-on projects and labs, measure and interpret vital signs, dissect a sheep brain, investigate disease outbreaks, and explore how a breakdown within the human body can lead to dysfunction. This project offers students the opportunity to think about the career choices available to them, giving those students interested in going into the medical field the opportunity to experience a side of it.

Freedom Locker Museum Exhibit will be funded in the amount of $1,794.58 and is headed by Mr. Jeff Swisher, teacher at Morton High School. The Freedom Museum Exhibit will allow students the opportunity to demonstrate how freedom has been represented and how it has changed over the course of American History. Each exhibit will focus on one of the four aspects of freedom; What is freedom, how is it defined or changed in that Era, who has access to it, and what are the barriers to freedom?  The exhibits will be formatted to fit on students’ lockers throughout the school. The goals for students are to demonstrate the ability to work well in project groups, resolve conflict and work towards a larger goal, to demonstrate freedoms they have today and the historical lineage of that freedom, and to participate in “The American Protest” event at Morton in the Fall of 2023.

Encanto: The Magic of Family will be funded in the amount of $500.00 and is headed by Ms. Renee Whelan, teacher at O’Bannon Elementary School. Technology in the right hands can be magical. Facilitating a connection between students and their families, this project will involve students traveling around the world learning about art with hands-on learning and finishing with them downloading, scanning, and documenting their travels by placing them in a digital forum. This will be a showcase of the art and talents of O'Bannon art students through the end of the year art show.  One of the most important parts of the program is a survey asking families where their ancestors came from, in order to include some of these locations into art projects throughout the year. This program is designed to enable students to create art and then capture it with technologies and bring it to the digital world, while learning about themselves, each other, art and technology.